The overall aims of this project include: (1) analysis of the visuomotor function of certain tectofugal pathways in the frog; (2) localization of single pretectal neurons involved in barrier-detection behaviors via recording methods; (3) analysis of commissural systems relating to visuomotor conflicts involving both pretectal and tectal functions. We have added a new aim, implicit in the original proposal: to compare functions of tectum and pretectum in a visually alert mammal, the gerbil. We have seperated approach and avoidance functions of the frog optic tectum by severing the decussation of tectospinal paths in ventral midbrain, and cutting the same pathway unilaterally at a pontine level. We plan to study ipsilateral tectofugal pathways mediating avoidance behavior. Anatomical studies are underway to define pretectal-motor connections in the frog. We are also amidst studies contrasting retinotectal and neocortical contribution to orientation functions in a visually alert rodent species, the Monogolian gerbil.